The power of PR

“In the old days, fames was the result of achievement. After a body of work, performing artists acquired a certain status, which was the natural consequence of accumulated execellence. This inspired others to follow in their footsteps, to work just as hard to emulate those successes. Today, in this streamlined age of labor-saving devices, we know there are quicker methods with which to achieve notoriety. With the refinements of hype, the ultimate 20th century invention, it is now possible to purchase fame through media manipulation, to acquire it by dogged self-promotion or simply by association.”

– Charles Marowitz, The Angel of Publicity, quote taken as published in Joshua Gamson’s Claims to Fame: Celebrity in Contemporary America